Various devices have been constructed, and various methods employed in order to confine heated or cooled air to the forward area of a vehicle. For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,154 granted to Woodrich Jan. 4, 1972 discloses a device for retaining heated air in the operator's compartment of a van.
Moreover U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,837 granted to Hunter Jun. 20, 1978 discloses apparatus for segregating the air space within the passenger compartment of an automobile.
Yet another device is disclosed in Canadian patent No. 1,227,233 granted to W/S Group Inc. Sep. 22,1987 in which a device is employed to form a partition having safety and energy conservation purposes.
These and other prior art devices present relatively complicated structures which involve a degree of difficulty for installation and further require alteration or modification of the vehicles in which they are installed presenting the possibility of unsightly damage when they are removed. If transferred to other vehicle of different design, modification of the device is required or a different design is necessary for installation.
Further, the apparatus existent in the prior art is of a generally bulky nature requiring considerable space for storage within a vehicle, for packaging, or elsewhere when not in use.
In known partitions it is necessary for incorporation in the vehicle of permanently affixed or removably affixed beams located in the roof area and side brackets attached to the sides of the vehicle, and fastened by means such as magnets or bolts, epoxy or other adhesives and the dependence upon a side panel, door post or the like located in a strategic position to receive the side brackets. Once installed these partitions cannot be adjusted.
Reference Hunter U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,837 which states in part "The headliner 42 has been slit, and a plurality of ferrous plates have been fixedly secured to the automobile roof 46 as also shown in FIG. 4. The ferrous plates 44 may be secured by epoxy or the like".
Partitions are also known which are dependent upon contact with the backrest of the seat of the vehicle in which they are installed in order to effectively divide the vehicle air space. Hunter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,837 referenced above, provides for a curtain which "is disposed in a touching relationship with the backrest effectively dividing the air space there behind". Further, such known partitions are comprised of a plurality of side brackets for removable attachment to the opposed inner wall portions of automobiles.
Known partitions do not contain the elements of universality of use in vehicles in that they require forms of permanent alteration of certain of their own component parts in order to fit specific vehicles and once altered are unusable in other vehicles. As an example Hunter, United States patent mentioned herein previously provides of an "elongated support track" for support of a transparent curtain.
The patent granted to Hunter mentioned herein provides for a partition whose use in a variety of locations within any vehicle is substantially limited by the location of door posts, windows or hardware, housings required for side door opening and closing apparatus and the back of the automobile seat against which it must come in contact to be effective. Certain conditions or a combination thereof must be met for the partition to be installed and since these conditions cannot always be met the use and full function of the known partition is substantially limited. The presence of trim mouldings and door hardware further interferes with the installation and/or operation of the known partition whose installation is reliant upon a surface clear of encumbrances in order to conform to the profile of the vehicle in which it is installed. The installation and use of the known partition depends upon a solid surface both along the top of the elongated track and along the edges of the brackets to accommodate the magnets or other means for attachment.
Many minivans are constructed which incorporate overhead consoles containing lights and possibly air ducts which often extend backward from the windshield beyond the rear of the front seat and beyond the door posts of the vehicle. Such consoles render unusable known forms of partitions requiring contact with the back of a seat or which have a plurality of side brackets for removable attachment to the opposed inner wall portions of the vehicle since such plurality of side brackets would have to be aligned with door posts or other solid means of attachment.
Other known partitions such as that described in Canadian patent No. 1,277,233 issued to MacKenzie Sep. 9, 1987 involved components which must be held in place through use of bolts, plates and tracks to create a rigid barrier, the primary purpose of which is to act as a safety device to prevent objects from striking persons seated in the front seat of a vehicle in the event of an accident. The patent issued to MacKenzies shows a partition whose users must make alterations to their vehicles to allow for installation. The patent so issued states in part "Of course, the fleet owner would permanently install plates in the floors of all of his vehicles, and tracks in the roofs of all of his vehicles as their installation must be secure and their cost is low compared with the cost of the partition panel itself".
Another example Patent No. 5,238,282 issued to Watson Aug. 24, 1993 relates to accessories for automobiles vans, aircraft, minivan and station wagons and in particular to an improved partition comprised of a main support beam which requires no permanent attachment to the vehicle in which it is installed and from which is suspended generally from the roof to the floor transparent, semi-transparent or opaque curtain panels whose primary purpose is to substantially confine heated or cooled air or air containing smoke to a specific area of a vehicle. It is an object of Watsons invention to provide an improved vehicle interior partition the broadest aspect of which will substantially confine heated or cooled air or air containing smoke to a certain area of a vehicle while overcoming the noted disadvantages and others. The Watson partition has a spring clip means constructed of resilient material such as plastic, nylon or the like incorporate multiple prong means which can be tapered and which form a mouth to allow placement of the prongs of the spring clip means over the trim moulding, seams or protrusions of a vehicle thus permitting removable attachment of the partition to the trim or seams, metal or plastic protrusions of the vehicle and for the adjustment of the support beam in a wide variety of positions to achieve a close fit of the partition within the walls, ceiling and floor of the vehicle. Should different positions along the length of the trim, seams or other protrusion be required the spring clip means are capable of traversing the trim, seam or protrusion in a sliding manner allowing the partition to be located and held in the longitudinal position desired. In the abstract Watson describes the device as adjustable, requiring no permanent alterations to fit the interior of a very large variety of vehicles of different descriptions, can be collapsed and folded while not in use and remains intact while being portable and can be installed anywhere along the length of a vehicle interior where trim moulding, flanges or extrusions of vehicle components or door hardware exists. The installation and use of known partition depends upon these structures within the vehicle. It would be very impractical to use the partition on many planes, buses, trains, or seating arrangement where the occupants may want to move about freely or converse. The patent granted to Watson substantially confines heated or cooled air to a specific area of a vehicle. This would be an unwanted situation in most any of the circumstances where a person or persons would want to use an interior light deflector. The above examples of partition devices are usually the width and height of the interior of the vehicle in which they are installed.